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Russia's decision on Crimea helped avoid casualties — Medvedev

Crimea's reunification with Russia helped prevent the development of events similar to that unfolding now in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev noted
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ITAR-TASS/Ekaterina Shtukina
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
© ITAR-TASS/Ekaterina Shtukina

KHABAROVSK, April 25. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's decision on the situation in Crimea made it possible to avoid heavy casualties and development of events similar to that in Ukraine's east, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev stated on Friday.

During Medvedev's meeting with the workers of the Khabarovsk shipbuilding plant, Pavel Shapoval, a Crimea resident, who has been working at the plant for several years now, addressed the premier with the following words, "I'd like to express gratitude to the Russian government and to entire Russia for supporting Crimea. The developments in Donetsk region would have led to thousands of casualties, were it not for Russia's presence in Crimea."

Shapoval showed Medvedev the Russian passport which he had received on Thursday. "This is a freshly issued one. It even smells new," he said. The Crimean resident asked Medvedev whether the Russian government would support the Feodosia shipbuilding yard "Morye" (sea). "It will be good if there are exchanges between the Morye and the Khabarovsk plant," he said. The Khabarovsk shipbuilding yard and the Feodosia Shipbuilding Company "Morye" are rivaling which gives an impetus to refining their operations. "It is good that there has appeared a new enterprise in Russia, working in the same field," Medvedev emphasized.